Herey Herey...

In the past, I have purposefully neglected to make any sort of New Year's Resolutions for the sole reason that I absolutley, positively stink at keeping any sort of thing.
I am a master of talking myself out of, in to, or around anything that I want or don't want to do. I can justify with the best of them. So I have choosen to refrain from making a liar out of myself to myself by just not making any resolutions.
Who actually keeps them anyways?!?!
But in the spirit of starting anew and expecting 2009 to be a year of greatness, I thought I'd try to make a few, realistic, goals for myself...

1. I will finish all the projects that are half way started and have sat untouched in months.
2. I will spend at least one hour of uninterupted time with Josie everyday. I will not spend this hour half heartedly listening to her, but will actually play with and engage her.
3. I will teach myself that the dishes can wait and having unfolded laundry will not cause my entire world to crumble around me. Family will be more important to me then having a spotless house (or at least the illusion of a spotless house).
4. I WILL SPEND TIME WITH MY GOD EVERYDAY! I have tried this one a million times and for some reason I always weasle my way out of it. This year is the year that I get it right and make Jesus a priority.
5. I will contact my girlies at least 2x a month. I'd like to say that I will see them as much, if not more, but I'm trying to make this list realistic!
6. I will take the Girls Only weekend with my BFF's that I've been dreaming about. The little babies probably won't allow this one to be a reality until the end of the Summer, but by midnight of Dec 31st 2009, we will have an album full of memories from our weekend away.
7. I will show Andrew how much I love him. I tell him all the time, but sometimes I wonder if he REALLY knows. I want to spend quality time with him instead of just watching TV. I will reserve energy to actually be with him instead of falling asleep 1/2 hour after Josie is in bed. Andrew will be a priority.
8. I will read at least SIX books this year and actually finish them. That may not seem like a lot, but I have 4 books right now that I am 3/4 of the way through and haven't finished. I already know what the first 4 will be!
9. I am going to try REALLY, REALLY hard to not over extend myself. This one will probably be the most challanging for me. I already have so many ideas in my head of crafts I want to do, places I want to take Josie, parties we want to host. In 2009, I want to actually enjoy everything I do. I don't want to spend time so stressed that I can't focus or carrying around so many duplicate to do lists that I can't find my keys in my purse!
10. I will exersise at least a little bit every other day. Oh Lord. I didn't want to write that since I'm trying to make this list realistic. I am a small framed woman, but I am seriously out of shape. I want to be toned up and have energy again!

Well, that should be a good start. I thought about limiting myself to 1 Starbucks a week, but come on, how realistic would that be!?!

Overall I think my list shouldn't be too hard to follow. Most of them can be accomplished by turning off the TV and making my priorites they way they should be...

1. GOD
2. Taking care of myself
3. Andrew
4. Josie
5. Friends and Family (they're really one and the same)

2009, get ready for ME!!

I Couldn't Be More Excited!

Last night Andrew called a family meeting.
Family meetings are rare at our house so a sudden drop in my stomach followed by a severe dragging of my feet are always my first reaction.
Turns out this was a good kind of family meeting.
Over the past two years, magnified when Josie came home, Andrew and I have been praying for God to give us clarity and financial ability as to me staying home with Josie full time.
For as long as I can remember my main goal in life was to be an excellent wife and mother. Sure, I knew I wanted to go to college and I have a bunch of other goals as well. But underlying all the things I do is an intense desire to be the CEO of my house.
Since Andrew started Waffle House, we knew that once he promoted to District (the next step from where he's at) I'd be able to stay home without affecting our lifestyle at all. In fact, he'll be making more by himself then we currently make together. So we were waiting on that.
Andrew starts his 40 day fast on Thursday (he does one every year to seek clarity for our family for the upcoming year) and so he has been gearing up for that with increased time with God. And yesterday God revealed something to him.
Our lifestyle could stand to go down a couple notches.
I don't need to go to Target every week (which always results in at least a $20 expense!). I don't need a Starbucks just because I'm driving by one. Andrew doesn't need to download every song they put on I-Tunes. And we could stand to eat the groceries we buy instead of being lazy and going out to eat.
We live a good life, but we are choosing possesions and ease over reaching our goal.
Looking at our budget, it's easy to see that if Andrew makes more, we'll spend more. And that will never get us to where I can stay home.
So Andrew began to call our utility companies and the companies we are in debt with and made some pretty amazing negotiations. Turns out there was a way cheaper cell phone rate that worked great for us, our insurance premiums were about to drop by over $60 a month, and he was able to lower our credit card payments by quite a bit too.
The result? We can afford for me to start staying home now!
It will be tight until Andrew promotes (which will hopefully be within the next 6-10 months), but totally manageable.
We'll have to cut off our TV, but we've done that before and actually were way more productive without it. I won't be making any trips to Starbucks (I almost backed out at that!). But all bills will be paid, groceries will be in the fridge, gas in the car, and I'll be home with Josie.
Right now she spends about 10 hours a day at daycare, 3 hours awake with us, and 11 hours asleep. And I hate it.
I want to be the one spending the day with her. I want to teach her and watch her grow.
Plus, the lifestyle cut will be temporary. Andrew is pretty much guaranteed that he will promote within a year.
So when it comes down to it, it really is a choice of if we'd rather have the material things that we desire or have me raising Josie. Put like that, the decision is easy.
We are going to test our budget for 2 months by immediately sticking my check in savings every week and just living on Andrew's check. I'll pay daycare and my gas out of my check since those expenses won't be there once I'm staying home. If all goes well, I'll be done working when we go on vacation in February.
I was a bit apprehensious at first. It's a big move. It's a big sacrifice. But today, I'm totally excited!
We will go to using cash for groceries and gas and I will be in charge of that. Any money below the weekly budgeted amount will go into a savings envelope for us to do fun extra things with. So my new goal will be to come in under budget in each area every week. I love a good challenge!
I'll still be able to go home and to my Dad's, I'll just have to budget for it. And now when I go, I can go for longer then 2 days!
I've spent pretty much all night weighing the benefits verses the cons and while there are some cons, they are outweighed by the good I feel this will do for our family.
Not that all families want this. But we do.
So I'll be sure to keep you updated on how it goes. These next couple months will be a challenge, but the hope is that we'll be used to living on less and when the time comes to make the move we'll be used to it.
I am so so excited. Except for the part where I have to tell my boss. Pretty sure I'll be putting that off until the very last minute!

And so we pray again...

MckMama and all her MckMiracles are needing prayer once again.

Little Stellan is having some breathing issues as well as a pretty high heart rate and is currently in route to the Children's Hospital in their area.

As I'm sure all you parents know, even the smallest of issues is magnified when it's your little one in trouble.

Little Stellan has shown God's greatness once before, and I'm sure he will do so again.

So let yourself be known God. We wait upon you.

Chef Boyar-Pope

Hey Good Lookin! Whatchya got cooking?!?

A Photofree Christmas

Yup, I forgot to charge my camera battery and then left the charger at Andrew's parents house so we don't have any pictures from Christmas. Which is a shame since Josie and I got all spiffied up for church on Christmas Eve and got to see a lot of old friends that I would have liked to have pictures of.

And it would have been hilarious to get Josie's picture after I let her have some Pepsi at the mall of Friday. She was entertaining everyone!

Andrew was a Waffle Maniac all Christmas. They did the amount of sales in each shift that they usually do in a whole day. So that's awesome! He worked doubles to save on payroll (woo hoo, bigger bonuses!) so Josie and I were temporary Kastor's all weekend and spent the holidays with Amy's family! It was so fun and I really appreciate them letting us crash their party!

After I finally charged my battery on Saturday I did manage to get some pictures of Josie using her new things.
Her Christmas was definitely a "housewife who loves art" themed Christmas! She got a ton of things to go with her new kitchen, some cleaning supplies that are just her size, the cutest apron and chefs hat, a TON of art supplies, and some Little People! Plus my Mom finished up her curtains so now her room is a total girly room! It was a great Christmas!

Her watercolors are a huge hit! She painted for over an hour and she has pretty much got her colors down now. I think I'm going to get a big frame for this masterpiece!One of my favorite things about Christmas is seeing what my Dad comes up with for our envelopes!

He is an amazing artist and on top of that is pretty much the funniest guy I know.

He used to decorate my lunch bag with cartoons and pictures of him and me. I was always the hit of the lunch table!

Last year he did a big card. This year the envelope was for Josie! I'll be saving it in her memory box.

Not Me Monday!

The holidays always bring out the best in people. Right?!? So while I know I was a perfect Christmas Angel, I'm sure some of you may have some confessions to make! So head on over to MckMama's place and get in on the fun!
Even if you were as well behaved as I was, you'll get a kick out of what some of the other ladies did, err I mean, didn't do over the Holidays!

As for me and mine, we most certainly did not do any of the following...

After working so dilegently on my goals for the New Year, and making one of them "thou shalt not overwhelm thyself" I most assuredly did not create yet another list made entirely of projects that I want to do in 2009! None of the items on that list are for NEXT CHRISTMAS! I mean come on ladies, who is already planning next years Christmas Party?!?! (I think I may need real therapy!)

In the true spirit of Christmas, I did not raise my voice even a tiny bit on Christmas Eve when Josie refused to stop whining. It was Christmas Eve. No mother gets frustrated on Christmas Eve!

Josie always comes first when I plan what I will do with my days off. So I'm sure that I didn't wake her up at 6AM, drive an hour to the fancy mall, put Little Miss Muffit in her stroller, and proceed to shop for an astonishing 6 hours, only stopping to provide "nurishment" (aka mall food) and brief leg streaches on our day off together.

After such marathon After Christmas Sale Going, I for sure would have let us call it a day. So it wasn't me who then went to the grocery store AND Ikea on the way home! (Josie really is a great sport to allow me such great days!) (OH, and we did ride the "Pink Pig" at Macy's which I'm sure made the whole day worth it to her!)

Did you hear that mom saying that really dirty, not child ride appropriate word when she banged her head on the (way too low) top of the Pink Pig Train? I am SO glad that wasn't me!

I did not tell Andrew's mom that he needed underwear for Christmas. That would be lame. (He couldn't believe that was all I could think of!)

I do not seriously hate the options I have for a free blog layout! I don't want to lose my widgets, but I hate how tacky the free ones are. I am not that concerned with my blog, I mean, it's not like I have a million hits on it! Time to get over myself!

I am so proud to be a foster parent. Seriously, it's one of the best things we've ever done. Even if they haven't called us for any placements in almost a year! HMMM, maybe it has something to do with the 20 hours of "training" we are required to do by the end of the year which we have done a total of ZERO? Oh, wait, it isn't me who hasn't done it yet. (Get off my case, I've still got 2 days!)

Errr, I'm certain that I didn't forget to charge my camera battery before Christmas thus leaving me virtually without one single picture from the weekend! Opps. Good thing we did all our big Christmas stuff early!

Menu Plan - Back on the wagon

It's almost a new year and we're ready to give this whole sticking to a plan thing another try.

2 weeks, here we go...

Saturday - Christmas Dinner at the Schmaedig House
Sunday - Chicken Encilladas
Monday - Dinner at the Schmaedig's
Tuesday - BBQ Chicken w/ broccoli and mashed potatoes
Wednesday - Burgers and sweet potato fries
Thursday - Spaghetti and green beans
Friday - Meatloaf with sweet potatoes and broccoli
Saturday - Luke's birthday party
Sunday - Deep dish chicken pot pie
Monday - Dinner at the Schmaedig's
Tuesday - Tacos
Wednesday - Homemade pizza
Thursday - Fish sandwiches with fries and carrots
Friday - Chicken Parmasan

I'm headed back to Whole Foods to test my theory of that being cheaper for our family. I'll let you know how well I do when I get back!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Are we done Christmas shopping yet?!?

Eight Things & More

PS over at The Dirty Work is my brother's best friends wife. Her blog is right up my ally. It's all about becoming an eco-friendly family without breaking the bank. She is full of tips that I can actually use instead of all the tips that are completely unrealistic for our family! Love it! I think she is a great mom and really inspires me in a lot of ways.
She posted this "Eight Things & More" survey to end out the year and I decided to play along! I'll stick to the bandwagon and not tag anyone, but if you decide to fill one out, link back in my comments so we can all read it!

Eight Things That I’m Looking Forward To

1. Our vacation to Arizona in February is at the top of my list! 12 sun filled, workless, relaxing days in the desert...it doesn't get any better then that!
2. Making the transition to being a stay at home mom. It is looking like this will finally be a reality this summer. We just have to wait for Andrew to get his promotion and then I'll finally be free to spend all my time with Josie!
3. Amy's baby shower. I love planning parties. Plus I'm going to get to see a lot of people I haven't seen in over a year so that will be fun. This one leads to #4...
4. Baby Matalie making her grand appearance! Scott and Amy have waited and prayed for this little ladybug and I can't wait to see her pretty little face! Which may be mere seconds after she is born since Amy has granted me the honor of being in the delivery room when she arrives!! I can't decide if that totally freaks me out or if it would be the most amazing thing ever!
5. I'm with PS on getting my daughter potty trained. I don't want to rush her, but it will be so nice to have her out of diapers! Not so much because of the cost of diapers since Andrew's mom is constantly hooking us up, but more so for the freedom that comes with not having to look for the cleanest spot to change a diaper. We had to change her on the floor of a nasty bathroom the other night because there was no changing station! SO GROSS! I promise there were no paper towels left after I used them all to put as much distance between her butt and the floor!
6. Planting some kind of garden. I am bound and determined to start a garden this spring. I want to try a few of our favorite veggies and for sure do some flowers.
7. Picking blueberries! We almost did this about 5 times last summer, but never actually went to do it. This summer, it's a sure thing!
8. Going to all the craft festivals this spring and summer! Now that I am seriously in to crafting I know just what I'm looking for. I think I'll get such enjoyment out of meeting the people making the crafts this year now that I know what it takes to be so creative! I can't wait to get inspiration from them!

Eight Things On My Wish List

1. More date nights with Andrew. Our lives get so crazy that date nights seem to be the first thing we let slip. I want to make that a priority in 2009.
2. A Disney Vacation for the family! I think that by next fall or winter Josie will be old enough to enjoy a weekend trip to Disney. Since we have a place to stay for free just an hour from the park, a trip like this is totally within our budget.
3. A massage, a facial, anything at an Aveda salon. (I'm sticking with PS on this one too! But I'd need a gift card since I have a really hard time spending money on me for things like this!) Plus we have an Aveda school down town where everything is way cheaper and I'm fine with having a student pamper me!
4. A new car for ME! Well, not new, but gently used! My car has about 260,000 miles on it and the dang thing just keep going! I'm not complaining though since a new car is not a part of our plan until Andrew promotes and gets a big ole car allowance.
5. This one is kinda lame... STARBUCKS CARDS! Hey, it's my wish list!
6. Furniture for our bedroom. I desperately want a dresser, nightstands, and curtains but refuse to pay a fortune for them. Which really narrows my options. Oh well. I guess I'll just keep looking!
7. I also wish I could see my parents more. I love every second I spend with them.
8. A total girls weekend! I mean, no kids, no husbands, no worries! Just the girls. Eating brownies and staying up all night. Lots of shopping and maybe even getting all dressed up for a night out! Who's with me girls?!?

Eight TV Shows I Watch

1. Desperate Housewives (I'm totally addicted!)
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Chuck
4. Today Show
5. Hell's Kitchen
6. Kitchen Nightmares (Hey, I like Chef Ramsey!)
7. What Not To Wear (this one makes me want to go shopping so Andrew hates when I watch it!)8. House

Eight Things I Did Yesterday

1. Woke Josie up way before she was actually ready to get up.
2. Drank reheated Starbucks from the night before. (I know, gross!)
3. Stressed all day at work! I love having days off for Christmas, but it moved my deadlines up a day!
4. Cooked dinner with Josie! It's so fun now, she copies what I'm doing in her little kitchen while I do it in my big kitchen!
5. Let Josie open another present. It's worked out great to let her do one present a day. That way I know she is really paying attention to what she is getting.
6. Andrew and I gave Josie a bath.
7. Made pudding! YUMMY! I love cook and serve pudding with whipped cream!
8. Cuddled with Andrew. We have adopted MckMama's house rule, "no work after the kids are in bed." When Josie goes down for the night, it's our time. We ate pudding and talked about our crazy days and all the stuff going on over the next month!

Christmas came early!

Andrew has to work on Christmas Day and yesterday was his last day off until next Saturday so we decided to do Christmas early!

We really only got Josie one big thing and a couple art supplies.

Oh, and some Elmo undies!

But we only gave her the big present.

She knew exactly what it was as soon as she saw the box and was SO excited!

This kitchen was $99 from Oompa.com.

It's all natural wood, really compact in size, and came with 2 plates, 2 sets of silverware, 2 pots and pans, a loaf of bread, a carrot, 2 mushrooms, cheese, an egg, a pizza, and salt and pepper shakers! She played with it literally all afternoon! She would make water sounds when she put the dishes under the sink, she delivered plates of food to her Dad, and she must have put the pizza in and out of the oven at least 20 times!

I was really hoping she would like this and it is turning out to be the perfect gift!

I turned my back for one minute and Josie had opened 2 of the gifts from her Florida Grandparents and Aunts! Opps!

She had to wear the "Spon Bob" jammies right then and there and proceeded to roll on the sheep for a good 5 minutes! Not sure what that's about!

Don't let the look on her face fool you! She loves them and wore them (with the footies under them!) all day!

Not Me Monday!

I have not published more postings this month then the amount of days that have passed. That would mean that I am posting more then once a day and let's face it, that is just compulsive.

Hmmm, was it me that convinced Andrew that we really needed to attend his company's Christmas Party since he's trying to promote soon? It is a good idea, so that might have been me. But it surely wasn't me who then was super annoyed that I had to go when the day actually came!

I do not use my blog to do my dirty work. Such as coming up with creative birthday ideas. Come on and help a sister out!

I am pretty sure that it was some other lady that neglected to cook dinner for her family 5 out of the past 7 nights. I am on a menu plan. Waffle House, Outback, or pizza (x2) did not make up our meals.

Could it have been me who was "that mom" at daycare? You know, the one who neglects to remember to bring a goodie bag for all the kids at the Christmas party? Nah, not me!

And whoever "that mom" was, I'm sure she didn't just give her daughter a little push through the door and then quickly retreat back to her car before anyone had a chance to make mention of her little oversight!

I did not make Josie sit on the potty even when she made it very clear that she did not want to. I am not having a hard time trying to figure out if she's ready for potty training or not.

To help assist me in my assessment of her potty training readiness, I did not allow her to romp around the house without any britches on all day on Sunday.

Everyone loves nice weather. Even this Northern Girl. So I'm sure it wasn't me who actually complained about it being 70 degrees in December! Who would do that?!?

It wasn't I who spyed a blooming vine or new growth on my hydrangia...On December 20th!

After boring Andrew for the better part of 1/2 an hour with all the seriously funny (maybe you had to read it yourself!) things that I had read on ALL the blogs I read, I know it wasn't me who uttered (very softly) that sometimes I wish I actually lived in "Blog World."
That would be so silly!
I mean, who in their right mind would wish that they could hang out with MckMama or get creative tips from Cakies or visit be the one to test products at The Lil Peanut Patch instead of going to work and sitting in their boring desk everyday!?!?

Case and Point

Regarding my letter to Mother Nature...

I waited all summer for this vine to bloom. It finally did... On December 20th!!My hydrangea is really really confused!And I'm pretty sure it isn't normal to eat ice cream, in t-shirts, outside, at night on December 20th either!

However, Mother Nature did respond to my letter. It is pretty brisk today. I think in the 30's.

And you better believe I am drafting a letter recalling my previous letter.

Turns out I like the 70's better. Even at Christmas!

Reunited

I firmly believe that there are some people that God brings into your life that will always be a part of you.

Of course, sometimes life happens.

People move away, jobs change, they grow up. But no matter what, they are a part of who you are. At some point, they helped form you.

Andrew and I have had a lot of these people in our lives, but few have had the impact that Kayla, Kayla, and Vanessa have.

You see, they were there from the ground floor of Cross Culture (our old youth group). It was the life change that they had that propelled us to keep striving for a better youth group. They inspired us, challenged us, pushed all of our buttons. Technically, they are everything that we wanted Cross Culture to represent.

Different backgrounds, different circumstances. Coming together with the common purpose of changing their generation.
I tried really hard to connect to the group of girls that came in after these three had stolen my heart, but it was really hard. I love these girls like they were my own (but I am WAY too young to be their mother!).

When Andrew and I left TPC, we knew that it was going to be near impossible to stay as connected to the girls as we had been. We ended up hardly ever seeing them. It was really sucky.

But on Saturday night we all go together for dinner.

And it was awesome.

I love that we can hang out and it really feels like no time had passed. Nessa had to go to the bathroom as we got in the car, Shex interupted Vanessa's long stories, and my Shelayla was just as sweet as I remembered.

Never again will I let a year or even a month go by without connecting with these girls.

After all, they will always be a part of who I am.

Jolly Old Saint Nick

We have been preparing for this day for weeks. Reading books about it, watching movies about it, talking about it. What is it we were preparing for you say?
Well, a successful picture with Santa of course!
Like I said in an earlier post, we aren't going to do the traditional Santa with Josie. No religious reason or anything like that. We really just think we'd rather have her understand the "spirit" of Santa now rather then trying to explain it after lying for years. (Don't worry friends, we're going to be VERY careful to be sure we don't ruin it for any other children!)
But for some reason, I still can't resist the Jolly Old Man when he's on the Square! So off we went to give it a try.
We got there about 15 minutes before Santa did so we just hung out.

Picture by the tree.

Picture in the Sleigh.

And then... Santa emerged from the service station! Josie was so excited!Until he got a little too close. Uh oh. This doens't look good for us getting a good picture!

If I didn't know better, I would swear the McDonough Square Santa is the Santa She watched very closely as the boys and girls in front of us took their turn.And when I told her it was our turn, she went rushing up to him. Waving and blowing kisses.
Until I tried to put her on his lap. She wasn't having that.
In fact, when he tried to put his arm around her, she quickly pushed it off and told him, "No touch!"Better luck next year.

On a totally different note...

Will someone please tell these babies to quit growing so fast?!?

2007

2008

Dear Mother Nature,

As I'm sure you are fully aware, Christmas is a mere 6 days away.
However, your recent actions have made it near impossible for me to get in the Christmas Spirit. You see, I am a northern girl. I have no Christmas memories that involve grass. In fact, anything less then 2 feet of snow covering the grass at Christmas is abnormal.
There are no Christmas Carols that speak of wearing shorts or needing your cocoa iced to keep you cool.
Christmas is supposed to be cold, chilly, down right brisk. The kind of cold where your nose hairs freeze when you breathe through your nose. Rosy cheeks and runny noses. Snowball fights and sledding down Death Hill. That is what Christmas weather should consist of.
Not whatever the heck this is.
Today is my daughter's Christmas party at daycare. I had the cutest little Christmas sweater all set out for her. So you can imagine my disdain when I realized that she would be sweating jingle bells all day if I were to send her in said Christmas cheer.
So instead I sent her on her jolly way wearing a red t-shirt with a jean skirt.
While I do appreciate this sudden warming trend you have given us, is it at all possible to get a little bit of December weather before Jolly Old St. Nick arrives?
If this weather continues, he may arrive in a convertible instead of his sleigh.
So for the next week, it would be greatly appreciated if we could get a little snow. Heck, at this point I'd settle for a thermometer reading below 70 degrees!

Thank you,
Nicole

PS - After all the gifts are unwrapped and the carols have been sung, feel free to go back to this glorious spring like weather.

Menu Planning - Take 4

This was a way easy week and we did horrible well sticking to it.
We did our shopping on this side of town at a regular grocery store since we didn't need much. It ended up being way more expensive. So for us, it's worth the drive to go up to Whole Foods every 2 weeks.

- Saturday we obviously stuck to the plan. The dinner party was awesome!
- Sunday we ate leftover lasagna and leftover mac and cheese with veggies to clear out the fridge
- Monday we ate at Outback for my birthday! SO GOOD!
- Tuesday we ate at Andrew's work Christmas party. It was actually yummy!
- Wednesday Andrew had to work late so Josie and I went up and ate with him at Waffle House
- Thursday we finally ate at home! Tacos. This was the first time Josie ate hers too!
- Friday we had super yummy Spaghetti Pie at the Glover's house
- Saturday we went out for pizza with our long lost favs from Cross Culture, Vanessa and Kayla!

Ok, so we did really, really bad this week! At least I have enough groceries left over that we don't have to go to the store until Friday.
I'm not going to even try to do a meal plan since I'll just be throughing whatever I can find together. And with Christmas this week, I know we'll be eating at families houses and all kinds of snacking.
Next Friday is my BIG shopping day! I get to go to Lenox and go wild getting things at deep deep clearance for the house! It's my favorite shopping day ever! So I'll just add to the fun and totally restock our kitchen at Whole Foods that day too.
So next week I'll do another 2 week plan. Yum Yum!

I love the mailman!

Especially when he brings me 3 boxes with this precious logo on them! Oh how I love Pottery Barn Kids. Josie's entire room is decked out in their bedding (clearance bedding!). So for Christmas my mom got her window treatments!
Summer naps will be so much easier now that it won't look like her room is directly in front of the sun!
These are the tie backs for the curtain panels. The finales on the rod are the same pink flower. We have the valance already so now all I need in the curtains that my mom's friend is making and we will be good to go!
Of course I'll post pictures when it's all done. It is going to be so pretty!And Miss Thing got a dress too! Pottery Barn has a clothing line called "Threads". It's WAY out of my $2 clearance price range. But luckily, Threads has a clearance section too! This dress was originally $50. I got it for $14! Love it!
I'm hoping she can wear it all Spring.

And in her hand? Well that's her good buddie Julian! She's been carrying it around ever since the same mailman brought my prize!

Marriage

I love being married. I have great reason to, my husband is my best friend. I've loved him since the day I laid my 17 year old eyes on him.

But sometimes marriage is hard.

Schedules get busy, the trash doesn't get taken out, and harsh words can be spoken.

But in the end, he is mine and I am his. For better or worse.

I grew up in the north where the definition of being a wife is a lot different then it is in the south. There were standards I was expected to follow that I wasn't sure if I agreed with. The word submission seriously made my hair stand on end and my eyes roll back.

But somewhere along the road that Andrew and I have been on for the past 6 1/2 years, I learned that I am happiest, the most content, and the most in love with Andrew when I am submitting and honoring him.

Pastor Mike taught me that submission does not mean being a doormat or losing who you are. It simply means, getting under the mission.

And boy does Andrew ever have a mission!

I am learning to lift Andrew up with my words. To speak life over him and not failure. I am learning to bite my tongue when chores aren't completed in my time frame. I am learning to see every sacrifice, all the sweat, every long hour worked that he does for me.

No, submission is not a dirty word in our house anymore. I love being submitted and I think our marriage has been blessed because of it.

MckMama has a great post on her blog today about submitting. I love this woman's blog and seriously recommend it to any wife or mother of small children (MSC as she calls them!) She is a God fearing wife and mother of 4 children 4 and under. Yup, that's one a year! And the last one was a miracle baby (my favorite kind!).
So if you want a little perspective into what submission is as well as what it's not, go check out her post.

***What you don't see in that picture is Andrew holding my hand for the very first time. Ahhh, young love.***

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

A mother is always in need of an extra set of arms.

9,490 Days Old

That's a lot of days!

Yesterday I welcomed in my 26th year on Earth. That makes me 9,490 days old. Add in a few leap years and it would be even more days!

There are actually 5 birthdays this month in my family. 4 of them this week! Josie's Grandpa Curt and I share the 15th, Josie's Nana gets her turn on the 18th, my little sis Autumn will be 16 (Holy Moly!) next week, and my Grandpa turned 21!

We went out to Outback for dinner last night to celebrate. Andrew was in charge of taking pictures so of course we ended up with only 2 pictures!

When I was opening my gift Josie kept proclaiming ownership of my new prizes! It was pretty cute, and a little sassy.

But the Starbucks Cards (yes, plural. People are catching on to my addiction!) were all mine!

I had a good 25th year. Challenging, but good overall.
I have this great feeling that my 26th year is going to be simply amazing. And I'm totally ready for amazing!

SAVE THE HANDMADES!!

Over the past year I have become very addicted to and very much in love with handmade products. I am a frequent browser at a ton of Esty Shops. (if you don't know what this is, go google it and check it out. All handmade products by small businesses mostly moms)
I just recently got over my fear of online transactions and have begun buying these unique goods.
I love the quality. I love the style. I love that every kid in McDonough isn't wearing the same thing as my one of a kind little sweetie.
So you can imagine how upset I am that our greedy government and big toy manufacturers are doing their best to make it ILLEGAL for these moms (and other small business owners) to sell their products.
Starting February 10th of 2009, the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act will go into effect.
While I am all about Josie's clothes and toys being safe, this act will put a ton of small businesses out of business. The testing that will be required comes with a cost that is impossible for them to manage.
All because toys made by the BIG MANUFACTURERS were found unsafe.
This act NEEDS to be amended.
Here's what you can do to help. It will only take a few minutes of your time and it will help so many people. Plus it will allow Josie to keep getting the super trendy outfits and handmade wooden toys that she so dearly loves!

-Find your congress personand senators and write a letter like the sample here. Particularly if they serve on the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection or the House Committee on Small Business.
-Send an email directly to the CPSC or contact chairperson Nancy Nord at 301-504-7923
-Vote for amending the law on Change.org, digg style: With enough votes it will be presented to President Obama in January!
-Place the Save Handmade! button on your blog or website to help spread the word to everyone you know who cares about protecting the little guy and preserving beautiful items made with love for our children.

Christmas at Heritage Park

By the time the Christmas party rolled around Saturday night, we had already had a really full day!
I got up around 5:30 so I could get the lasagnas prepped and the house clean because My Favorite Family of 4 was coming over at 10:30 so that I could help them out with their family pictures. And by help, I mean push the shutter button. That's pretty much all I did!
It was an experience!
If Everett was smiling, Ean was crying. When Ean would calm down, Everett would decide he was done with pictures! But in the end, they ended up with some really great shots. When your family is as beautiful as theirs is, it's hard not to.
Half way through the photo shoot we stopped for a much needed lunch break. Josie is getting a table and chairs for Christmas from her Nana and Grandpa, but for now the ottoman works just great for lunch dates when her best friends come over.

I love listening to these two have conversations. They seem to really understand each other even though we have no idea what they are saying. I hope they weren't talking about us! After we had enough of camera flashing, we all went to Heritage Park for the Christmas festival. It was F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G! (my Minnesota family would laugh that I was so cold when it was 40 degrees! That's like shorts weather up there!)
We let the kids see the fake snow and eat a sugar cookie. Then we rode in the little sleigh before making a mad dash to the car for some warmth!
So let me tell you about Tiff for just a minute.
I met Tiffany at the end of the Summer in 2000 at a Superbowl party the youth group we both went to was having. I had just moved here a few months before and didn't really have any real friends other then Andrew.
Tiffany was an instant friend. In many ways we are polar opposites. But in many ways, we are soul sisters.
When Andrew and I hit a rough patch right before we were supposed to get married (AKA, Andrew got cold feet and lost his mind temporarily), she didn't hesitate to come pick me up in the middle of the night and move all of my belongings into her house. I lived there with her family for a few months and together we got through one of the hardest and loneliest times of my life. While there was plenty of room in the basement for us to each have our own room, we slept side by side. We went everywhere together.
And when she had a rough spot in her life, I tried my best to repay the favor that she had done for me years before. I'm sure I didn't do enough, but I hope I eased her burden at least a small amount.
The night our caseworker called to tell us Josie was on her way, she was literally one of the first calls I made. Everett is just one month older then Josie so I knew she'd be able to help me. The fact that Josie made it through those first couple days with us is owed to Jason and Tiffany letting us know what and how and when to do things for her!
Over the past 8 1/2 years (OMG Tiff, can you believe we've know each other that long?!?) our friendship has been tested by fire and come out pure gold.
Between our 3 children under 2, our driven husbands, and crazy work schedules, we don't get to spend nearly enough time together. That's why days like Saturday mean so much to me.
And I think this picture speaks it better then I ever could. Thanks for being you Tiffany. And thanks for letting me be me. I love you.